Polar bear charms way into high-level EU-U.S. talks

Polar bear cub Knut is pictured during its first presentation in Berlin zoo, March 23, 2007. Germany's celebrity polar bear cub undertook his first diplomatic mission on Thursday when Knut stuffed toys made a surprise appearance at a two-day meeting of top U.S. and European Union officials in Berlin.

BERLIN (Reuters Life!) - Germany's celebrity polar bear cub undertook his first diplomatic mission on Thursday when Knut stuffed toys made a surprise appearance at a two-day meeting of top U.S. and European Union officials in Berlin.

U.S. Assistant Attorney General Kenneth Wainstein praised his German hosts for presenting him with the specially made stuffed toys, complete with Knut labels, during complex negotiations on the sharing of air passenger data with the EU.

"I came here with one objective in mind beyond engaging in a fruitful conference: I had to find little stuffed animal Knuts," he told a news conference.

Wainstein explained how German Justice Minister Brigitte Zypries had come to the rescue by getting hold of the toys after he had resigned himself to leaving Germany without them because by the time he got to the zoo, it had closed.

"It was a wonderful gesture of kindness and diplomacy," he said, smiling broadly.

To top it off, a giggling Zypries delved into a voluminous blue bag with Germany's EU presidency logo on it and, to the delight of the recipients, distributed two stuffed polar bear cubs to each of her international colleagues on the podium.

They included the U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff, European Justice and Security Commissioner Franco Frattini and two Portuguese state secretaries of justice and internal affairs.

For the remainder of the news conference the participants played with their fist-sized presents and lost interest in telling reporters about the negotiations.

Frattini stroked his cub repeatedly and Portugal's Jose Magalhaes could hardly take his eyes off his Knut, first lying him down flat, then propping him up on his water glass.

The ministers even posed for a photo with their soft toys.

Some 15,000-20,000 fans have flooded into Berlin Zoo every day this week to see the real four-month old Knut, who hit the headlines after questions were raised over the hand-rearing of polar bears. His mother Tosca had rejected the cub at birth.